Champagne and raw fish, unexpectedly perfect
West Hollywood · Los Angeles · Japanese · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 7, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Sushi Nakazawa’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You're here for Nakazawa's nigiri, but the wine list quietly demands your attention before the first piece lands. It's tight — maybe 150 to 200 bottles — but it reads like someone made deliberate, considered choices rather than just filling pages. Champagne and Burgundy dominate, and honestly, that's exactly right for what's happening on the plate.
This list isn't trying to cover the world — it's staking a claim in two regions and owning them. The Burgundy section runs from approachable village-level bottles up to Domaine Leroy Chambolle-Musigny and Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée, which tells you someone here takes this seriously. Champagne gets similar treatment: Krug Grande Cuvée, Salon Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil, Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs, and Cristal cover the prestige end well, while Schramsberg at $95 gives you a domestic on-ramp. The gaps are real — if you want Rhône, Alsace, or anything Italian, you're largely out of luck — but the depth within those two French pillars earns a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for a reason.
By-the-glass options land somewhere between 10 and 20 pours, with entry points around $18 to $25 — reasonable for this zip code and this room. The program skews toward Champagne and white Burgundy by the glass, which is smart given the omakase format. Wednesday half-price wine night is a genuine incentive to plan around.
Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2019 — $95
In a list stacked with $300-plus Champagne, this California sparkling wine is the move if you want bubbles through the whole omakase without wincing at the bill. Schramsberg holds its own with Nakazawa's lighter, more delicate cuts.
Domaine Dujac Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru 2020
Most people at this table are going straight for DRC or Leroy and paying accordingly. Dujac at $380 is still a serious spend, but it's the Burgundy on this list that actually makes sense to order — floral, precise, and light enough not to bulldoze the fish.
Kistler Vineyards Chardonnay Cuvee Cathleen 2020
At $220, you're paying omakase-level markup on a California Chardonnay that, as good as Kistler is, doesn't belong at this table. The richness works against the subtlety of what Nakazawa is doing. There are better uses of $220 on this list.
Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs + Yellowtail with yuzu kosho
The citrus bite of yuzu kosho and the clean chalkiness of a Blanc de Blancs are basically doing the same job from opposite directions. Billecart-Salmon keeps it elegant and doesn't overpower one of the most delicate bites on the menu.
Wednesday — Half-price wine on Wednesdays — plan accordingly if you're eyeing anything in the $200-plus range.
The Bottom Line
Sushi Nakazawa LA is not a wine destination in the broadest sense, but if your world is Champagne and Burgundy — and for omakase, it probably should be — this list is focused, credible, and worth exploring. The markups sting, but Wednesday half-price wine night makes this one of the smarter date-night moves in the city.
· Los Angeles · California small plates
If this four-wine snapshot is the full extent of AOC's current public-facing wine program, it doesn't come close to living up to the restaurant's wine bar billing. The pricing is fair and the Vinho Verde earns its spot, but four uniform options with no dish context and no visible deeper list is not what you go to a place called AOC expecting. Come for the reputation — just hope the full list is hiding somewhere.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Beverly Hills · Los Angeles · Italian Seafood
Marea Beverly Hills brings genuine depth and regional curiosity to a wine list that could have easily coasted on crowd-pleasing Pinot Grigio and overpriced Super Tuscans — and it didn't. The markups are high, as expected for this zip code, and without clearer intel on staff knowledge or specials programming, the full experience is harder to guarantee. But the list itself earns serious respect, and if you navigate it well — start with the Strasserhof, finish with the Rossese — you'll drink far better than most tables around you.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Proper
Beverly Hills · Los Angeles · Prime rib and steakhouse
Lawry's is a Los Angeles institution and the prime rib is genuinely the point — the wine list exists to support that experience, not steal the show. If you hit the weekday happy hour window between 5 and 6 PM, you might find the value equation improves considerably. Come for the beef, enjoy whatever Cab they pour, and don't expect the list to surprise you.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
West Hollywood · Los Angeles · Italian and French Café
Bottega Louie West Hollywood is a solid, reliable choice when you want wine that doesn't distract from the occasion — the room, the company, the cannoli. The Sunday half-price glass program is the single most compelling reason to choose this spot specifically for wine, and we'd encourage you to use it. Just don't expect the list to surprise you; this is a place that knows its audience and plays to them without apology.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
West Adams · Los Angeles · Italian pasta
Cento is a destination for the pasta first, and the wine list seems to know its supporting role without phoning it in. We'd want a verified menu in hand before steering you toward specific bottles, but the regional focus and the evident care in the room give us real confidence this isn't a place that treats wine as an afterthought. Go for the spicy pomodoro, ask what's pouring by the glass, and let the night unfold.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Los Angeles · French tasting menu
Mélisse is a destination for Champagne completists willing to pay fine dining prices for the privilege of choosing between four Philipponnat vintages or three Krug editions in a single sitting. But if you're hoping for a wine list that matches the ambition of a French tasting menu — with depth across regions and styles — the narrowness here will leave you wanting. Come for the bubbles, manage your expectations for everything else.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Decatur · Japanese
Umi is built around Champagne, and if that's your thing, there are genuinely exciting bottles here — from the Billecart-Salmon Rosé to the Salon Cuvée S for when someone at the table is feeling reckless. The markups run steep across the board, and outside of sparkling, the list doesn't have much to say. But if you're celebrating something and want bubbles with your omakase, this is exactly the right room.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Jose · Japanese
Ozumo pulls off something most restaurants don't bother attempting: a tight, curated by-the-glass program that actually reflects a point of view. The Loire and Burgundy presence alongside skin-contact Pinot Gris and volcanic Soave tells you someone made real choices here. If you're eating Japanese and want to drink something more interesting than the house Pinot Noir, this list delivers — especially in that $13–$19 range.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vail · Japanese
Matsuhisa Vail carries recognizable Burgundy producers, which suggests someone cares about the wine program at some level — but the public-facing documentation is so thin we can't make a credible case for the list as a whole. Until there's transparency on pricing, glass pours, and the full bottle selection, Vail's wine-forward crowd would be taking a blind leap ordering here. Go for the food; treat the wine as a bonus if something good shows up.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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